Seven Pioneers place, team finishes third at Will Abele

Seven UW-Platteville wrestlers placed in the top four of their brackets at the Will Abele Invitational Saturday, helping the team take third out of nine squads.

January 18, 2014

Written by Colten Bartholomew, UW-Platteville Sports Information Intern

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. -- Seven Pioneer wrestlers placed in the top four of their brackets at the Will Abele Invitational Saturday, helping the team take third out of nine squads.

Junior Bryant Etherton led the way for the Pioneers in Collegeville, Pa., bringing home second place in the 197-pound bracket. Etherton earned pins in his first two matches of the tournament, including a quick finish against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Omar Abdoun, pinning him just 1:25 into the first period.

Etherton took his semifinal match by a 3-1 decision, before falling in the championship match 4-3.

Sophomore Cole Ferguson lost his first match of the day 11-6, but then bounced back to win four matches in a row to take third place at 125 pounds.

After winning his first consolation-bracket match 7-2, Ferguson caught fire and won his next three matches via the major decision, winning 11-3, 18-8 and 20-8.

Fellow sophomore Mason Bohm took third place at 141 pounds. After a 8-1 win to start his day, Bohm fell 16-4 in his semifinal match. Bohm then squeezed out a tight win against fellow Pioneer Chase Wiggins 2-1, before taking the third-place match 11-6.

Sophomore Emeric Williams picked up four wins on his way to a fourth-place finish at 149 pounds. After falling to the consolation bracket, Williams won a technical fall victory, a first-period pin and a tight 6-5 decision before dropping the third-place match 7-4.

Junior Trenton Larson earned fourth place in the 165-pound bracket. Larson earned a quick pin in his first match of the day, just 37 seconds into the match, before falling to the eventual champion. Larson bounced back with a 12-8 decision to earn a spot in the third-place match, where he fell 14-7.

Senior Devin Johnson picked up three pins on his way to fourth place at 184 pounds. Johnson won his first round match just 1:38 into the first period, then took his second round match late in the second period.

Johnson dropped his semifinal match 12-2, but shook off the loss to earn another first-period pin to move into the third-place match, where he narrowly lost 3-1.

Freshman heavyweight Brandon Boyle rounded out the Pioneer place-winners, taking fourth. Boyle took his first round match by a 5-3 decision, then moved into the semifinal match after a forefit. In the semifinal, Boyle lost a tight, 9-7 decision to the eventual champion.

Boyle recorded a pin late in the third period to move into the third-place match, where he was pinned in the first period.

The Pioneers return to the mat Friday, Jan. 26 at Williams Fieldhouse for the UW-Platteville Quad. Wrestling begins at 6 p.m.